Finding What's Important
by Kori Tetsugaia
Summary: Sora Tenshi is a normal archer girl, until everything changes before her eyes. She thinks she's living a normal life, but soon discovers she is a necromancer. Now everyone's out to get her. Will Sora be able to find what's important for her?
1. The Dreams

**Finding What's Important  
****Introduction: The Dreams**_**

* * *

Swish **_

_The iron sword swung through the air, slashing at me, trying to rip into my slightly weak armor. Cold, hard armor ominously clanked about, carrying nothing but an empty whisper. I huffed and panted, diving and rolling away from the metal._

_**Ssshhh**_

"_Hnnngh…" I groaned as I clutched my bleeding arm where the sword had struck when I was a moment too late to get away. I groaned again. There was so much pain… but why was this happening? I could faintly remember a mysterious entity telling me it was all a dream… but the pain felt so real. I coughed up some blood, spattering it onto cold, gray stone. Whatever was in the metal armor suit suddenly grabbed me by the throat, pressing me against the wall. I gasped for air, but I knew it would not fill my dying lungs. There was a slow, dry cackle emanating from the suit's middle area, yet it seemed to be echoing around everywhere._

_**Schiiiick**_

_I made no sound, not even a squeak of pain, as the sword slid through my chest. Blood dripped down from the corners of my mouth. My vision was cloudy and fading fast. I couldn't feel anything but helpless and failing. And the cold… the cold that grips around you as if Death's own hands. More blood ran from the fatal wound in my chest. And then…as my vision faded to black…_

_Absolute…_

_Silence._

* * *

I screamed loud and high as I jolted from my sleep. The lights immediately flicked on and in rushed my sister, Tori, and my brother, Andy. 

"Sora! Sora, oh my god… what happened to your arm?!" Tori demanded frantically, examining my arm. I looked at it once, feeling faint, and I saw a gash on my arm.

_Just like the one in the dream_

It was all it took. Accompanied by worried shouting at Andy to get dad, and the blood already lost, I passed out.

* * *

"_My child… my child, awaken from your slumber…" A gentle voice rang around in my head. My eyes snapped open._

"_Wha… what?" I stuttered, looking around at my surroundings. There was absolutely nothing but black surrounding me, yet I could still see myself. It seemed as if there was light radiating everywhere, but there was darkness suffocating everything._

_It was as if the light was balanced out by the darkness, and vice versa. I groggily sat up a little bit. Before me, a person dressed in what seemed to be white and black robes materialize into view. It took graceful, slow steps toward me, and I felt a strange sense of peace. At the same time, being around the figure made me feel like I had done something bad. As it neared closer, I saw that it was a beautiful woman, with soft but complex features on her face. Her smile looked as if it was etched into her face by the world's greatest artist, and her cheekbones were high. The whole of her face was rather pale – but then again, I was pale too. _

_When she came close to me, she knelt down to my small frame, gently placing her hand on my cheek. Her hand felt cold, yet it had a warming sensation to it. _

"_My child…" she whispered tenderly, running long, tapered fingers across my cheek. She had glazed eyes, staring into mine. Suddenly, as if she were just slapped across the face, she reached back with a jerk. She mumbled something quietly under her breath, then smiled at me with thin lips. She stood up again, and offered her hand to me. Tentatively, I took it, and her firm grip pulled me onto my feet. I wobbled around for a moment, then regained control of my previously-nonfunctioning legs. She smiled at me again, joy radiating from her._

"_Oh, my child… I haven't seen you in so long… but now… you have truly grown to be a beautiful girl…" she whispered. I opened up my mouth to say "thank you" quietly, but what came out was entirely different._

"_Lady Arianna, what have you brought me here for?" I blurted without thinking. The woman broke into a smile filled with raw joy. She took me in her arms and hugged me tightly, petting my hair. After she was done, her smile remained._

"_Oh… you have remembered who I am… this is perfect. My dear Sora, everything will be revealed to you soon." She frowned for a moment. It looked… out-of-place on her pale, beautiful face._

"_But when it is… you may not enjoy it."_

"_Please, Lady Arianna, tell me. I would love to know what is going on."_

"_My child, you are a necromancer."_

* * *

Well that was rather surprising, wasn't it? 


	2. Flashback

**Finding What's Important  
****Chapter 1: Flashback**

_

* * *

I let out a soft gasp. Me, a necromancer? One of the most powerful beings in the entire Maple world? It couldn't be. I looked up at Lady Arianna._

"_But… but Lady Arianna, that's impossible… I am only a simple archer girl, and I have no record of anything special about me." I murmured. Lady Arianna wagged her finger at me gently, as if softly reprimanding me for doing something bad._

"_Oh, dear Sora, you are indeed special. Don't you remember your parents speaking with Athena Pierce one day? You listened in…but perhaps you do not remember. I will help you with that." She rested her index finger on my forehead, and chanted some words underneath her breathe. I gasped as a memory came flooding back._

* * *

"_**Good morning, Athena. I do believe you brought us here today to speak about Sora?" my mother inquired, standing near my father. Athena Pierce nodded.**_

"_**Please sit, if you would." They both sat down in separate chairs across from Athena.**_

"**_Your daughter is very special in her own way. Her destiny will be clouded, but if the winds of fate blow her way, she will discover many things. I would ask that you take tender care of her, and treat her the best you can. If ever she becomes angry, do not speak to her, but let her calm down. She is capable of many things… but I ask you not to tell her until the time becomes right." Athena stated. My parents exchanged quizzical looks, but nodded politely._**

"_**It will be done then, Athena." They nodded once more, and then took their leave.**_

_**Meanwhile, I had been listening into their conversation when I had climbed to the top of Athena's house because a couple of boys had dared me to. I had put my ear to a small crack in the house, and with my sharp bowman ears, listened to their conversation. **_

**_I sat on the top of her house, dumbfounded. I was special…? I thought it impossible. I had never done anything special before, except the time I learned how to dismember a person at the age of four. It was rather… bloody._**

_**The boys were shouting at me to get down for a while, until one of them climbed up to the top too, and tugged at my arm to get my attention. I snapped out of my reverie. Together, we both climbed back down Athena's house. The boys offered to walk me home, but I had politely declined. I needed to think by myself for a while.**_

_**As I was strolling back towards home, Athena's words echoed about in my head.**_

* * *

"_But, Lady Arianna, I had only thought Athena had meant something else, like when I learned to - " Lady Arianna cut me off and coughed, obviously not wanting to hear anymore. She smiled anyways._

"_I know my child… but the truth was that you are indeed a necromancer. Sometimes that will be good, sometimes it will be bad. However it turns out around you, it happened because of you, my child." she whispered to me. I felt cold all around._

"_Lady Arianna…isn't there anyone else with the same power as I?" I asked tentatively. She frowned for a moment._

"_Oh my… of course. There is another with powers such as yourself… but instead of the darkness, he uses the power of light. He is an illumancer, one who wields the might of holy energy and light." I blushed. He? The other was a male? Lady Arianna laughed softly._

"_Yes, my child… the illumancer is a boy." I blushed even more at the fact she had read my thoughts._

"_Oh, dear Sora, you do not know how it feels to see you once more…" she smiled, enveloping me in her arms again. She whispered into my ear._

"_I will meet you again, in your dreams, Sora. For now… I bid you farewell…" I inhaled._

"_W-wait! Lady Arianna, I have but one question left for you." I said quickly, not wanting her to leave yet. She nodded, pressing me on._

"_What will happen if and when I meet this illumancer? I mean, I know we are tied together somehow." Lady Arianna smiled once more._

"_My child… you will never understand how fate works out. It is true that you will meet him… but everything will unfold as you had never imagined. Goodbye, my fair child." she spoke softly. She placed her finger on my forehead again._

"_Awaken."_

* * *

My eyes cracked open, but I immediately closed them again from the bright light in the hospital. I moaned. Ugh. I hated hospital lights… they were so bright. Having the whole room white didn't really help either.

I tried sitting up, but all I got from my efforts was a stinging pain in my right arm. Wait... my right arm? I peeked at my right arm, and saw a white bandage wrapped around it firmly. I poked at it.

_Ow, _I thought. Hmph… it really hurt, even though the bandage was thick. I looked at the clothes I was wearing, and saw that I was wearing a clean, white gown.

I saw a little purple button near my bedside, and underneath it said "Push for nurses". Naturally, I pushed it, while pondering about the color. Why purple, I would never really know.

Almost immediately, a nurse rushed into the room. Smiling at me, she took my temperature, and checked my bandage for any blood spots.

"Would you like to speak to your family?" she asked warmly. I nodded, wanting to see them. She helped me get off the bed, and then led me down a white hallway. The floor felt cold underneath my bare feet. Soon, we entered a room titled, "Waiting Room". My whole family was sitting there anxiously. Andy was the first to see me up.

"Sora!" he exclaimed, coming up to me and hugging me.

"Andy… I can't… breathe…" I gasped, trying to inhale air. Andy let go of me sheepishly. The rest of the family looked up, faces bright, when they saw I was awake.

_Uh oh_, I thought. _More hugging. Absolute joy._

* * *

I hope that was at least slightly longer... if not, then I will strive to make the chapters longer. 


	3. Necromantic Rage

**Finding What's Important  
****Chapter 2: Necromantic Rage**

* * *

After I had rested in the hospital for about five days, slowly healing my wound, I was allowed to return to the comforts of home. Today, I was going out with my sister and my friend, Gavin, to the Ant Tunnel to train. I rapidly tied on my white bandana and I quickly packed up my bow and plenty of arrows. Once, my sister Tori had run out of arrows deep in the tunnel, and narrowly escaped with her life. I wasn't going to let that happen to me.

"Sora, come on, Gavin is here already!" Tori called from down the hallway near my room. I shouted back, "Alright, alright! I'm almost done…" I trailed off. I reached over to a bedside table and picked up a silver chain necklace with a blackish-purple crescent moon-shaped charm hanging on it from the edge of the table. It seemed to emit an aura around it, like a soft grayish-black aura. But, perhaps it was just me.

My eldest sister, Laka, had given me this necklace the day before her boyfriend, who had gone insane, went on a fit of rage and undoubtedly killed her. I had loved her so much… she was more of a second mother to me. A tear dropped off from my eye. Alarmed, I quickly wiped my eyes and took a few breaths of air. I heard footsteps coming near my room.

_Crap_, I thought. _I need to make up an excuse… and fast! _Gavin stepped in, a look on his face that said 'what-the-hell-takes-you-so-long'.

"Ah! Um… hey Gavin… could you help me put this necklace on?" I asked, blushing. I had never liked lying to Gavin… but I didn't want him to know I was dawdling because of a memory. He rolled his eyes at me. I stood, my back to him, as he swiftly clipped the two ends on. I honestly could have done it myself, though.

"Well, can we go now?" Gavin demanded. _Gee, for a magician he sure has a short temper_, I thought. Still, I nodded, fingering the necklace's charm. I walked out the door accompanied by Gavin, my bow in tow and a quiver of arrows strapped to my back, more arrows and other items in a small pack. Huh… I had always wondered how the pack was able to fit a lot of items inside it for its small size. Heck, it even had separate pockets for everything, and it all fit, although the pockets were small.

Traveling as a small party, we headed northeast of Henesys to the dungeon portal. I jumped in and was instantly teleported to the path to the dungeon. Along with my friends, I leaped and ducked across thorny bushes and spikes protruding from the top and bottom, occasionally firing arrows at annoying slimes blocking our way.

Nearing close to the portal going into the dungeon, I looked down at the large pit that sometimes had Stone Golems lumbering around in it. Frequently, I would sometimes see a high-leveled person jump in and reduce the Golems to pieces of strewn-about rubble.

* * *

Finally, we were at Sleepywood. As soon as we got there, we headed off to the old, dead tree stump leading to the Ant Tunnel.

_Ugh_, I thought bitterly to myself, wrinkling my nose. _I hate the smell of Ant Tunnel. It smells like wet mold._

Albeit true, we got used to it anyway. The Ant Tunnel was echoing with the sounds of people shouting out their attacks to better channel out the energy. We joined in with the shouting with attacks of our own.

"Double Shot!" I yelled, firing two arrows swirling with a blood-red aura at a horned mushroom dashing towards me. My aim was true; it struck the mushroom in the forehead in two places. It collapsed on the ground, dead. Ignoring the carcass, I continued to shoot arrows at the mushrooms nearing close. Going farther into Ant Tunnel also meant I was being separated from Gavin and Tori.

_Thud_

Someone had thrown something at my back, and I fell over.

"What the hell!" I exclaimed angrily, getting up and turning around. I saw an assassin snickering at me softly. I growled. I looked around at the ground, seeing an icicle lying on the ground.

"Dude, why'd you throw an icicle at me?!" I demanded furiously. I picked it up and threw it back at him with full force. Instead, he simply side-stepped and the icicle speared right through a zombie mushroom behind him, killing it.

"Heh… so I was right. That icicle should have impaled you… a shield of darkness, huh?" he whispered, coming closer to me. I countered by stepping back, but I was quickly running out of space. Any more steps back, and I'd be falling off a dead-end. Abruptly, he disappeared.

"What the -" I never got time to finish. A hand darted out of the shadows and clapped around my mouth. I shrieked, but it was quiet and muffled by the assassin's glove.

"Too slow…" he whispered coldly into my ear.

"You're coming with me… necromancer."

I inhaled sharply.

_He knows I'm a necromancer._

"How do you know?" I mumbled through his fingers. He laughed coldly.

"If I told you… you'd die of shock…"

And then… a sharp, fatal pain in my abdomen. I gasped in pain. He had drawn a serrated dagger and driven it into my stomach.

_Damn it… how… did he know… where… to…_

I blacked out before I could finish the thought.

* * *

"Sora… Sora, wake up! Please wake up…" I heard a voice calling my name, over and over again. I immediately recognized it as Tori's. I let my eyes slide open, and found myself in the Sleepywood hotel's VIP sauna in a soft bed. Standing above me was Tori and Gavin, with smiles on their faces when they saw I was awake. I groaned and tried to sit up, but was interrupted with a sharp stinging sensation in my stomach. I inhaled sharply as Tori and Gavin quickly told me not to move around too much. They sat down and began explaining how they found me.

"Okay, well I think we were lucky to find you before that assassin went too far and actually killed you." Tori began, and shuddered. I shook my head silently, but willed them to go on.

"Anyway, I had noticed that you had randomly disappeared. Not like it was different for you but…" Tori slapped Gavin on the back of the head and glared at him.

"Uhh… I mean… well, when we realized you would not have just wandered off like that in a dangerous place, we went looking for you." Gavin said.

"We heard a sort of muffled shriek, and when we came to look you had been stabbed in the stomach by this weird assassin guy." Tori continued.

"The assassin looked up and saw us, and then he threw the knife at me. It stabbed into my arm, but then the assassin ran deeper into the tunnel." Gavin winced, showing me his bandaged arm.

Suddenly, everything holding me together snapped. Nobody - and I meant NOBODY - hurts my friends and lives.

A crazed, demented look entered my eyes, and my incisors grew to sharp, long points. The wound on my stomach became nothing but a scar left behind. I got off the bed and stood up, and with a loud -riiiiiiiiiip- and a howl, a pair of bony, leathery demonic wings erupted from my shoulder blades. Serrated claws shaped out from what used to be fingernails. Tori and Gavin backed away from me quickly.

"S-Sora…?" Tori asked, shaking with fear. I let out a shriek of rage, and, beating my wings furiously, broke through the hotel's ceiling. Hovering above all of Sleepywood, passersby looked up and gasped in horror at the monster above them.

Me.

I dived quickly towards the Ant Tunnel entrance, and as soon as I entered, I ripped past everyone and ripped apart every monster that got in my way. I would find that assassin. And I would kill him.

* * *

Past all of my demonic rage, I could still recognize where I was going. From my earlier explorations of the Ant Tunnel with a group of my friends, I identified the rocky cliffs and bumps as the fourth Ant Tunnel. There, I saw the assassin. Finally, whereas I was helpless before, I was now all-powerful, with dark energy coursing through my veins. Silently chanting ancient words, I called upon the shadows to cloak me from sight. From there, I slowly flew up behind him. I snickered to myself.

_So much for an alert assassin…_

Though I wanted to toy around with him for a while, I couldn't because I didn't have much time before my sister would call a person or two to help find me. So, I decided to do it quick and swiftly. Like...

An assassin.

I uncloaked myself and swiftly grabbed him around the chest, pulling him closer to me.

"Too slow…" I mocked, and slowly drew up one of my claws to his throat. He made no sound, only a hint of a smile on his face.

"Oh, don't worry, necromancer… more people like me will come after you. And when they do… you'll wish they hadn't." he chuckled icily.

"What a triumphant remark for the dying," I hissed. And then…

_**Tshiiihck  
**_My sharp nail passed cleanly through his throat, and he fell limp. I dropped him with a thud, and leisurely licked his blood off my claw. Nearby, I killed a zombie mushroom and yanked off its undead charm. Chanting a few words, I infused the charm with a much stronger undead power. I turned over the fallen assassin and stuck the charm on his pale forehead. The body began to spasm uncontrollably, and suddenly… it stopped. The charm disappeared.

Almost like a broken machine, the reborn assassin stiffly rose from its place on the ground. Turning to me, it bowed awkwardly.

"Master," it whispered hollowly.

_Hmm… I believe I have created my first servant._

"I suppose you haven't a use for me yet… but for now, be gone my servant." I murmured. It disappeared with an empty laughter.

I grinned dementedly to myself. I would need many undead charms for this…

* * *

After I had been exploring what my demonic form could do, such as hypnotizing, telekinesis, and a lot more, I had began collecting more undead charms.

But my fun was soon ruined, as I heard echoing voices deep down the tunnel. Most of the things shouted were "Sora!".

Almost forgetting I was still in my demonic form, I had to fake something or they'd get suspicious with me. Acting quickly, I slashed shallowly into my stomach. It didn't really hurt, of course. I willed myself to return to my normal state, the normal Sora who wasn't demented and crazed about killing people.

Using my best drama skills, as soon as everything demonic left me, I cowered on the floor in the fetal position, faking unconsciousness before anyone saw me. I felt someone shake me gently, and I let an eye crack open. Standing around me were Tori, Gavin, and one other person I didn't know. I sat up, wincing at the cut on my stomach. I coughed up a bit of blood, and the magician (which I could tell from what he was wearing), chanted softly some words that I could distinguish as a healing spell. Warm green light spread out from his hand onto the cut, and in an instant, the torn flesh knitted itself back together. I smiled weakly at the cleric and mumbled a "thank you" at him.

He laughed quietly and said to the others, "She isn't very talkative now, is she?" I blushed. This cleric was really nice…

_And cute_, I mentally thought absent-mindedly. Then I realized what I had just thought, and kicked myself.

_Nononono, Sora you can't think like that about a stranger! You don't even know him! _I berated myself for thinking such things, all the while blushing about five shades more. If magicians could read minds I'd be SO busted right now…

"Huh? Why are you so red? Are you sick, sis?" asked Tori, confused. I snapped back to attention.

"Uh! Um… no, I'm fine… I guessed I just spaced out for a little, that's all…" I stuttered. Tori looked at me disbelievingly.

"Riiight…" she said skeptically.

Damn. She was good at telling when I was lying.

"Sora… what happened… back at the hotel? You turned into a beast or something." Gavin shook slightly at the memory of seeing my wings rip out.

_Crap… how the hell am I supposed to tell them?_ A voice rang about in my mind.

"_Simply tell them, my child. They will understand." _I remembered the voice as Lady Arianna. So… I trusted her words.

I breathed in shakily.

"Guys, I'm a necromancer."

* * *

Okay people. I really, really, really hope that was long enough for you for now. This may be the last chapter I'll post in a while, but oh, we'll wait and see. 


	4. Meeting Seiji

**Finding What's Important  
****Chapter 3: Meeting Seiji**

* * *

There was a long silence following what I had told Tori, Gavin, and the cleric.

"Sora… you're a necromancer? But… a necromancer is evil! Sora, you're not evil…" Tori cried. I went silent.

"But I am… you both saw what happened to me in the sauna. You know! You know what I am." I yelled. Tears sprung into my eyes.

"Wait, wait… Sora, tell us more about it, please." said the cleric. I sniffed.

"… alright. But first, let's get out of this tunnel." I muttered. I tried standing, but my legs felt like jello, and I simply fell over again. I cursed myself for being this weak. I felt arms wrapping around my back and legs, carrying me, and when I looked back I saw it was the cleric.

"My name's Seiji." he said, smiling. I blushed about fifty shades of red, looking down at myself.

Tori pulled out three return to nearest town scrolls, and, ripping the scrolls apart, we disappeared back into the safety of Sleepywood in a flash of white light. The zombie mushrooms hopping around squeaked confusedly, but continued doing whatever that zombie mushrooms did without a second thought.

* * *

Arriving at our destination, and paying to get into the sauna, Seiji set me down on the bed and I propped myself up onto a small pile of pillows. They all sat around the bed, waiting for me to tell my story. I sighed and took in a few breaths. And then I began.

"Tori, the day you found me with the bleeding arm… I had a dream of an empty set of armor killing me. The same time it slashed my arm, it appeared on my arm in reality. I don't know how, but it did." I said shakily.

"Then, after you guys took me to the hospital, I had another dream. A dream about a woman named Lady Arianna. She told me everything, how I am a necromancer. She also told me to tell you about it, and that you would understand. I guess she was right." I gave a thin smile.

"But, she also told me that there is another, another person with the same type of power like me, except it's a boy and he has the power of light. He's an illumancer." I continued.

"And you know what?" I asked. Everyone nodded, urging me to go on.

"I think Seiji is the illumancer." I whispered.

There was another silence. Then…

"Me? An illumancer?" Seiji said in surprise.

"You're the only illumancer right now… and I'm the only necromancer. We are special people, tied together by the chains of fate." I said softly, as if reciting from a poem.

"Our life links are connected with one another. And that means… if I die… you die, too. If I feel pain, you feel it too. The same happens with you and me…"

Seiji was quiet.

"I think we should speak to Master Grendal about this." Gavin declared. I nodded, and waited for Seiji's answer. He nodded as well, rather absent-mindedly, too. With everyone agreeing, I got off the bed and took the Ellinia return scroll offered to me by Tori. I poked at Seiji, but he didn't move. I poked him again, but with the same result.

_Well, I'll just have to do this my way then._ I thought to myself, then stifled a snort of laughter. Holding the scroll in one hand, I wrapped my arms around Seiji. He looked up, alarmed. At the other side of him, I ripped the scroll in two, and we both disappeared in a sparkle of green light.

Mr. Sweatbottom at the far end looked at the empty spot where Seiji and I used to be.

"Lovebirds," he muttered to himself, then turned back to attending to other people in the sauna.

* * *

When we appeared in Ellinia, it took a while for me to realize my arms were still around Seiji. I squeaked and let go, blushing furiously. He blushed as well, and I started thinking,

_He's adorable when he blushes._ This time, though, I did not mentally reprimand myself for thinking that because… well, it was true.

We had been dropped off near the Ellinian potion shop, and close by we heard Gavin and Tori shouting at us to get a move on. Walking side by side, Seiji and I complied.

Our little group was slowly making its way up to the top, where Master Grendal's magical library resided. Trying not to fall, we jumped across small areas where there was no platform, and climbed up ropes and ladders.

Looking up and seeing a marvelous accommodation embedded into a great tree was when I knew we had reached Grendal's library.

* * *

Entering the library, we saw that it was full to the top with books. It was quiet but many young magician scholars were reading things necessary for their second job advancement. Judging by what they were wearing, I deducted that most were one or two levels away from their advancement.

"Um guys?" asked Tori.

"Yeah, sis?" I replied.

"Where should we start looking for Mr. Grendal?" she said, confused. Instinctively, we both turned to Seiji and Gavin, hoping they would be able to answer. To our dismay, their only response was to scratch their heads and shrug.

Looking around, my eye caught a door entitled, "Master Grendal's Study". I looked at the doorknob on it, and saw it was turned one odd way, signaling it was locked. I poked the shoulder of Seiji, and asked if we should enter from there. He nodded, face brightening, but also suggested that we knock first.

I went up to the door and knocked quietly. I heard the sounds of coughing, then an old-sounded voice came from the other end.

"C-coming!" it wheezed. I heard slow footsteps coming towards the door, and what seemed to be a hollow third step, but I knew it was a cane to help balance whoever was coming at the door. When the person opened the door, we greeted Master Grendal politely and asked if we could come in. His eyes scrutinized all of us, then finished off with a knowing look.

"Ah, come in, children. I have been expecting you." he coughed. His long, gray beard was trailing almost to the floor, and he was dressed in clean, white robes. I watched him hobble over to a cushioned chair and sit down. The rest of us sat down on wooden chairs, Seiji and I looking around Grendal's study. The whole of the room had a huge bookshelf at the end of it, filled to the brim with thick books, and it was illuminated by large candles and small candles strewn about everywhere.

"I do believe you two are the special ones, am I right?" Grendal evaluated. Seiji and I nodded silently. He gave an old wizened smile, and straightened up a little in his seat.

"Then all is well. First, I shall begin with the powers you both wield." he said.

"Sora - that is your name, no? - has the power of controlling and creating undead monsters, and sometimes, people. Also, you have the power to bring humans and such back to 'life'."

My heart thumped. Bring a dead person back to life? That meant, that meant I could bring back Laka from her death.

"Unfortunately, only the body of the person is revived, and not the true soul, if the person has been dead for more than one year." Grendal continued.

_Damn it!_ I thought angrily to myself. There was no way I could bring back her body AND soul, because she had been dead for two years.

"As you have seen before, Sora, you also have a demonic form. If you can control the demon form, you may call upon it anytime you wish. Also, according to my memory, if enough anger is built up inside of you, the cage holding the demon within you will be broken."

_Like that assassin_, I thought bitterly. _The thought of him hurting Gavin made me snap. _I gave a fleeting look at Gavin.

"Sora, you have many powers in the demon form as well, including hypnotism, telekinesis, invisibility, mind-reading, and the shadows. Although, demon or not, you still control the powers of darkness, and can infuse it into any item you wish." Inside, I was grinning.

_Any item I want, eh? Heh…_

"Seiji, everything goes the same for you, except for a few things differing from you two. For instance, instead of a demonic form, you have an angelic form."

_Angelic indeed_, I thought, then blushed deeply. Tori glanced at me from the corner of her eye and giggled.

"And instead of hypnotism, you've got the ability to create life-like illusions. Controlling the powers of light and holiness as well enable you to also infuse it into items. You are endowed with the gift of healing any wounds, be they not causing death after the first blow."

I could almost hear Seiji grin.

"Now, there is always a special effect between you two. When you are together, be it fighting or not, you have the gifts of summoning. I do believe there is a book about summoning, first starting with the weakest monster, and last, the most powerful ones, the God Summonings. But you will need to train hard to master even the simplest of things. And so…" Grendal stood up and limped over to a smaller bookshelf. He skimmed through the first few, then pulled out four slightly thick books. The first, titled "Necromancy" and the second titled "Illumancy". The third was aptly named "Summoning", and the last was entitled "Shadow and Light".

Grendal dropped two books on my lap and the last two on Seiji's. I quickly grabbed hold of them before they slipped off.

_Gah_, I thought. _These things are heavy._

Gavin snorted with brief laughter.

… I would need to kick his ass later.

"Off with you, then!" Grendal said cheerfully, standing, then pushing us all out the door, closing it and locking it after.

"Come back if you have any questions!" Grendal called, his voice slightly muffled through the door. I sweatdropped, along with the others.

_Well… that went by rather smoothly._

I crammed the books into my pack as we headed near the exit from the library.

* * *

When we got out of Grendal's study, we saw that the library was almost completely empty now, save for a few last people. I looked out one of the green-tinted window and saw it was nighttime.

Stepping out under a clear, starry sky, a cold wind blew against me, causing goose bumps to form on my skin. I shivered, wishing I had brought a cloak to wear.

I felt myself being lifted, and Seiji was carrying me bridal-style. I looked up at him and blushed, feeling as red as a tomato. But he was warm, and I nuzzled into him more, resting against him. Drunk with drowsiness, I could barely hear what Seiji and my sister were speaking about. I did hear Seiji say something about bringing me to his house to rest, but when Tori wanted to come, he said he only had room for one person. I could hear the disappointment in her voice, but said she'd stay with her boyfriend, who also resided in Ellinia. Gavin, by this time, had said his goodbyes and was gone.

Tori was leaving also, and, being the smart sister she was, had sent our parents a note telling them we were staying at a friend's house. As I faded in and out of consciousness, all I could feel and hear was Seiji's heart beating. Beating in tune with mine…

I fell asleep right then and there.

**

* * *

Seiji's POV**

_Huh… she fell asleep._

_She's cute when she's sleeping._ I felt heat rise to my cheeks.

_Ack… can't think like that… okay well maybe once…_

I hurried to my house as quickly as possible, not wanting Sora to wake up. The winds were beginning blowing about more fiercely, and I yanked open the door to the house and closed the door behind me, locking it.

Journeying down a small hallway, I entered my room, which conveniently had two beds. I gently set Sora down on a bed and pulled the covers over her quietly. Her white bandana tied around her head had attracted my attention.

_Huh… I wonder why she wears that bandana instead of a normal archer hat._

Well, I would ask her later. Right now, I was feeling as if I would collapse… but first, I needed to get something from her pack.

Exiting the room, I went back down the hallway where I had dropped Sora's pack. I unzipped a pocket and pulled out the two large books.

'_Necromancy' and 'Illumancy'_, I mused. Oh well. I'd look through them with Sora tomorrow.

Placing my books and Sora's books in a little stack by the table on the couch, I rushed back to the room housing Sora.

_Still fast asleep… good._

I untied the bandana carefully from her head, and set it on a table nearby her bed. Her short hair flared around her delicately.

I leaned down and softly kissed her on the cheek. I could have sworn there was an impulse to do it, but as long as it happened, I was happy. I saw a bit of blush rise to her pale cheeks, then fade away slowly. There was a sudden roll of thunder, and I looked out the window to see rain spatters on it, casting a pattern from the moonlight onto Sora's face. There was heat rising into my face, and I quickly turned off the light, changed into more comfortable clothes, and climbed into bed. I fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.

* * *

This happens to be my longest chapter yet, also with introducing a "Seiji's POV" thing. Hah… I hope the people who read this like it. (That means you, Seiji-kun. Don't say anything.) 


	5. I Wanna Kill Her

**Finding What's Important  
****Chapter 4: I Wanna Kill Her**

* * *

I awoke grumpily when something bright flashed into my eyes. Failing to bat it away, I cracked open my eyes and discovered it was a stray beam of warm sunlight shining through a clear glass window.

_Where am I…?_ I thought sleepily. I sat up and looked about the room I was in. Painted on the walls were pale shades of blue, mixing together in a beautiful swirling pattern. The floor was carpeted, a light beige, and there was a tall mirror on the other side of the room, a closet propped against a wall, and a dresser. There were also two soft-looking beds, including the one I was sitting on currently, and on the other bed, I spotted a figure sleeping soundly on the other bed, face partially concealed by a blanket. Peeking closer, I saw it was Seiji.

I sighed, leaning back and running my fingers through my hair, determining I was in Seiji's house. Looking down at myself, I saw that I was still wearing my archer armor. I got up off the bed, and gazed at myself in the mirror. I looked horrible, to say the least.

_Ugh… I had better learn where Seiji's shower is._ I thought.

I stepped out into the hallway, and took a quick look past a corner. I saw my pack there, and I hurried over to it to get the things out of it. I pulled out some weak clothing, the ones I wore when I first started adventuring. The clothing consisted of a red-striped top, and an indigo miniskirt.

I began to explore all around Seiji's house, and finally figured out where the bathroom was._ Tiled floors and small carpets_, I thought, amused. I took off the light-weight-but-sometimes-uncomfortable shivermail armor, and climbed into the shower.

_I do hope Seiji won't mind if I use his shower,_ I thought nonchalantly. I pulled up the shower's handle, and soothing jets of warm water sprayed from the showerhead and cascaded down my exhausted, tense body. I proceeded to slowly wash myself thoroughly with shampoo and soap I had found on a thick tray near the showerhead.

Finally, I got out of the shower, feeling rejuvenated, relaxed, and most of all, clean. I stepped out of the bathroom wearing the selected clothes I mentioned from earlier, drying off my hair with a towel on my way back to Seiji's room with one arm, also carrying the rest of the armor in the other arm.

When I reached his room (and also picking up my pack), I dropped my pack on the ground and set my armor into it, zipping it up and then leaving it there, for now.

I finished drying my hair, and then, out of instinct and just wanting to see what would happen, I tossed the towel onto Seiji's face. He stirred a little, but then continued sleeping as if nothing had ever happened. I sweatdropped, and pulled the towel off his face.

Guess I'll have to wake him up with my method. I thought dully to myself, trying to contain my laughter deep inside. I walked over to him, and… hugged him tightly, burying my face into his chest.

He awoke with a start, eyes snapping open, tensing up. I released him. He looked up at me quizzically, but saw him relax when he realized it was me.

"G'morning, sleeping beauty," I said, grinning. He and I blushed at the same time, and Seiji got up out of bed, rubbing his eyes groggily.

He noticed I was changed, and smelling nice, and I saw another layer of crimson rise to his face.

"G-good morning Sora," he muttered, turning his face to the ground.

"You too," I smiled, then turning to the bedside table, seeing my bandana lying on it. I picked it up and swiftly tied it about my head, finishing off with a small knot at the back.

When I had turned back to Seiji, however, he had disappeared.

Eh? I thought, looking about. I caught a small flash of blue to my right, and I turned quickly toward it, but whatever was there had disappeared again with another flash of blue. I recognized this technique, but couldn't quite place the name.

Suddenly, I felt arms around my waist, and a voice.

"Gotcha, Sora!" Seiji said playfully, hugging me close to him. I giggled, trying to get free from him, but his grip was strong.

_Now I remember! It was teleport!_

He pressed a fleeting kiss on my cheek, and then, in the blink of an eye, had teleported out of the room. I briefly heard the shower turning on outside.

I sat down on the floor heavily, hand tentatively reaching up and touching the spot where his lips had met my skin. The place felt tingly, and I was aware my face was burning. I got back up onto my feet, and ambled out the door.

* * *

I walked into the living room, and sat down on a couch. Out from the corner of my eye, I saw the pile of books from yesterday of which Master Grendal had given us. My eyes lit up, and I scooted over to it. I picked up the 'Necromancy' book, and, inhaling slowly, opened up the book.

_What the… the book itself looks centuries old… there are even small rips in the leather bounding! But… but the pages look brand-new… And a few words look like they're written in… blood…_

I turned a page, and on the top, in large, black, cursive-like writing, it said "**Table of Contents**". I ran my finger down the page, reading each category slowly. The layout of the page looked like this:

**Table of Contents**

**Basic Dark Spells**………………….. **Page 2**

**Intermediate Shadow Spells**……… **Page 22**

**Summoning the Undead**…………..** Page 32**

**Summoning Undead Animals**……. **Page 42**

**Expert Necromantic Spells**………..** Page 52**

**Demon in the Cage** ………………..** Page 87**

**The Shadow Crest**……………... **Page 88**

**Necrodemon Abilities**…………….. **Page 92**

**Rules of the Necromancer **……….. **Page 102**

**You and the Illumancer** …………. **Page 103**

**Misc. Spells**……………………….. **Page 104 – 200**

_Holy… this book is huge!_ I stared at the contents. _All the way to page two-hundred… but, then, I suppose, it could be even longer. Good thing it isn't._

I took a look at the Basic Dark Spells section.

_On page two… let's see…_

On the top right of each page, there was an image of the effect of the spell. On the first page, it showed a shadow being sucked into an arrow glowing with a purple aura.

_Wow… it's like the book knows I am an archer._ I was amazed.

Written on the side of the image was the description of the spell, and above that, the name. This spell I was currently looking at now was appropriately named, "Silhouette Arrow". Below the description was the incantation to combine a shadow into an arrow. The letters were large, and the incantation took up most of the page, meaning each spell had its own page.

_Hmm… let's begin with this spell, shall we?_ I mused. I closed my eyes and pulled out an arrow from my quiver, concentrating deeply.

"Infuse the power of the shadow into this arrow, and allow the might of the darkness to bring forth the silhouette arrow…" I whispered. I twirled the arrow between my fingers, dark energy swirling around its two ends, building up and getting darker and darker. The arrow itself was outlined with a deep, purple aura. And then…

The arrow turned pitch black, only recognizable from the purple around it. I opened my eyes, and waved the arrow about. Black wisps of what looked like smoke lifted off it endlessly, and faded away into nothing. I smiled.

_This is new…_

* * *

I called across the hall,

"Seiji! You done with that shower yet?"

Just then, Seiji stepped out of the bathroom, still wearing the clothes he donned while sleeping, yet cleaner.

"It appears I am out of the shower." he said mockingly, and then smiled. I snickered.

"I gotta show you something I made while you were spending your time in there." I held up the arrow. He studied it for a moment.

"Er… what is it?" he asked, confused.

"In that 'Necromancy' book, it's called a 'silhouette arrow'." I said.

"Interesting… my turn!" he shouted jovially.

"Curses," I muttered, but grinned, and waited for him to open up his 'Illumancy' book. He did, and the design of the page looked fairly like mine in my book.

**Table of Contents**

**Beginning Light Spells**………… **Page 2**

**Intermediate Holy Spells**……… **Page 22**

**Healing Yourself and Others**….** Page 32**

**Summoning Animals**…………..** Page 42**

**Expert Illumantic Spells**……… **Page 52**

**Angel Locked Inside**…………... **Page 87**

**The Aurora Blade**……………...** Page 88**

**Illumangel Abilities**……………** Page 92**

**Rules of the Illumancer**……….. **Page 102**

**You and the Necromancer**…….** Page 103**

**Misc. Spells**……………………. **Page 104 - 200**

Seiji turned the page of the book, and I watched him pick out a spell starting from page two.

"Eh… this spell is called, 'Radiance'. Apparently, I use the power of light to make an item." Seiji noted, eyes reading each word of the incantation keenly. I nodded. He formed his hands to look like they were around a ball, and then began to quietly chant words.

"I hereby bring an item to this world, an item made from lights of pure, to be held by hands, and I send forth this arrow…" he muttered, and in between his hands, I saw an orb of light forming and flickering, but soon was large. It began to expand slowly, into an elongated shaft. An arrowhead formed on the tip as well, and near the end, golden feathers lined the side. The arrow looked as though it didn't exist, but soon, Seiji made his hands into a cup. The light flashed brilliantly for a moment, and then… fell into Seiji's hands. He held up the arrow. It was tinted golden, and it looked beautiful. Seiji allowed me to hold it, but it felt like it was weightless.

"It's pretty." I grinned. He smiled.

"If you think it is, then you can keep it."

"Ooo… really?"

"Sure… it wouldn't be like I actually had a use for it anyway." he said, leaning against the couch, relaxed.

"Besides, I think there's something much prettier than that arrow." His eyes got a glint in them.

"And… that would be?" I asked.

"You," he said casually, as if it were normal to say things like that.

… I'm pretty sure I turned about fifty different shades of crimson.

* * *

After we had that little… episode… Seiji suggested that we get dressed into our adventuring clothes. I decided to change in the bathroom while he changed in his room.

Lugging my armor to the bathroom, I quickly closed the door, and fitted into my armor. It felt… cold against my bare skin. I exited the bathroom, and headed towards the living room again for my pack.

Reaching into my pack, I pulled out my bow, and a new quiver of arrows. I slipped the golden arrow and the silhouette arrow into it. I strapped on the quiver of arrows onto my back, and I aimed out an open window to practice firing accurately. I focused on a tree, pulled out an arrow, nocking it onto my bow, and then releasing it in one swift movement. It struck the area of the tree I was looking at in a perfect bull's-eye, and I smirked.

Seiji chose his moment, and teleported into the room, wearing his white wizard robe, and wielding a circle-winded staff. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of the arrow lodged firmly in the tree's trunk.

"Nice shot," he commented, and bent down to open up his pack. He placed the Illumancy book inside, and suggested to me I do the same with my Necromancy book. I complied; after all it was also for a "just incase" situation. I slipped in the Summoning book as well, and handed Seiji the Shadow and Light book, too. He stuffed it into his pack, and, rather miraculously, we both lifted the pack, discovering it was as light as a feather.

Making sure we had everything, it was then that we stepped out the door, into the crisp Ellinia morning. Little drops of water from last night's storm looked like little crystals scattered all over the ground, each reflecting off a bit of sunlight bursting through the treetops. All in all, it was a beautiful sight, and I marveled at everything as we went by.

"Sora!" I heard a voice calling my name, and turned around to see Tori running towards me. She slowed down once she got closer, and panted.

"Hi… hi guys," She gasped for more air, and soon, her breathing returned to normal. We greeted her politely, and she asked if her boyfriend could come along with us.

"We don't mind," I said, smiling at my sister. Seiji nodded absently, his attention seemingly pointed at something else.

Someone teleported up to Tori and kissed her quickly before introducing himself as Tori's boyfriend. He didn't really give a real name, so Tori said we could call him "Oreos". I snorted with laughter involuntarily.

_Oreos_, I thought, amused by how Tori made up the nickname for him.

"Um… what're we gonna do now?" I asked. Seiji coughed.

"Let's go train at the dungeon," Tori suggested.

"The Ant Tunnel again?" I inquired, but then shuddered unwillingly. I still had a clear memory of everything that happened there. Tori sighed.

"If you're up to it, then I suppose we could." she said.

"… let's go, then." I decided. We both looked around.

"Uh… where'd Oreos and Seiji go?" Tori said, sweatdropping. I heard two voices calling our names, and we face-palmed when we saw the both of them waving towards us from far away. We quickly ran and caught up to them.

"Let's see… we'll head off to Henesys, then go by their dungeon path." Seiji confirmed.

"Then let's go!" I said, and everyone complied.

* * *

We arrived in Henesys rapidly, and even more speedily, headed towards the dungeon, fending off any monsters charging towards us.

Coming into Sleepywood, we saw many people standing around, either chatting with others or selling random things. Most others were just surveying everyone and everything. Oreos and Tori had gone off to the sauna to restock on potions and whatnot.

I noticed a crowd of people gathering behind us.

"It's that demon girl," someone whispered. I heard disgusted agreements, and I felt like an animal at a zoo.

"I heard she killed someone in the Ant Tunnel, too," another voice whispered. I felt my anger growing inside. What was I, something to look at in a gallery? Apparently to them, yes, I was.

"I think we should stay away from her. She might go on a rampage and kill us all." I heard myself let out a deep, angered growl, and the crowd backed away for just a moment.

"Hah, what can she do? She looks as pathetic as the next person." someone leered. I was boiling now, eyes flashing with rage. My eyes became slitted, like a cat's eye, and turned a vicious bloody red. The crowd gasped, and the next thing I knew, I had drawn an enormous scythe.

The handle of which I held it was a sinister black, and the actual blade itself was made of a dark, shining steel. Red patterns were littered all over it, and the end of it had another small blade attached to it. Bony, tough wings erupted from my back, spreading out for all to see.

In the blink of an eye, I was at the offender's throat, pressing my scythe to her neck.

"I can do this." I sneered. Her eyes were wide with fear, and by the looks of what she was wearing, and her hair, she was a person who was overdosed on NX.

"Hmm… I think there's something wrong with you. You look pathetic as the next person." I mocked. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around angrily as to who was interrupting me, but simply saw it was Seiji. He leaned in and whispered to me.

"Look, Sora, don't do this. Just… please. Let it go."

I turned back to the girl, who was shaking with terror. Reluctantly, I let her go, and let my scythe disappear. She scrambled up and ran into the arms of who looked like her boyfriend or other. As I passed, I hissed at her, just for the fun of it. She shrunk back in fright.

It was at that moment, Oreos and Tori came up to us.

"What'd we miss?" they asked.

_More than you'd want to know_, I thought to myself, and finally, the four of us headed inside the Ant Tunnel.

**

* * *

Seiji's POV**

"Look, Sora, don't do this. Just… please. Let it go." I heard myself whispered to Sora. She turned to the pathetic-looking girl, and grudgingly, let her go. I watched the girl scuttle away from Sora and into the arms of a boy. I sighed.

_That was close…_ Alas, as much as I wanted to see Sora rip that girl to shreds, I couldn't let her do that. But that scythe was really cool. As we passed by them, I heard Sora hiss threateningly at the girl. I sniggered silently as the girl cowered before her. Oreos and Tori came up to us

"What'd we miss?" they asked.

_More than you'd want to know_, I thought to myself. Taking a deep breath, the four of us entered the Ant Tunnel.

* * *

Thanks to everybody who has reviewed this story and left bits and pieces of criticism.

** Kal Ancalas: Err… thanks for commenting on the romance pieces. ... yes, you squee'ed. There's no turning back now. BWAHAHA -coughchokewheeze-**

** Arthur Savorian: Of course, with the longer chapter thing. I try hard to make my chapters a considerable length. Thanks for your review anyway, I really appreciate it. **

** Crostini: Okay, okay I get it with the "longer chapters" thing. ****I'm going to try and make future chapters longer, but since I am not allowed on the computer (laptop) most of the time, it's rather hard.**

Seiji-kun if you're reading this you better send me more e-mails.


	6. Sinister Plans of the Wicked

**Finding What's Important  
****Chapter 5: Sinister Plans of the Wicked**

* * *

As we stepped inside the Ant Tunnel, surprisingly, we saw there were many, many more people than we had expected. Looking around warily, just incase the monsters were going to ambush us, we spreaded out into two groups, Seiji with me, and Oreos with Tori. Seiji and I headed down more, while Oreos and Tori covered the top, annihilating every monster near them, and sometimes picking up what was left of them, and the money they dropped.

Seiji often times "healed" the undead mushrooms to death (which I always thought was odd), while I stood on a safe platform, firing precise arrows at horned and zombie mushrooms alike. A zombie mushroom looked prepared to jump at me, but suddenly stopped, and turned around, hopping away as fast as it could. This confused me, but soon I figured it out.

_It's because of my… "necromantic" aura, isn't it…?_ But I didn't pay much heed to it, and continued to launch arrows at passing mushrooms.

_Die, mushrooms, die_, I thought bluntly, watching two of my Double Shot arrows embed itself into a horned mushroom's head. I began to observe Seiji kill the mushrooms with his Magic Claw attack. He flashed with blue for just a moment while he lashed at mushrooms with his red whip, causing two almost identical blue claw marks to slice through the enemy with ease.

All of a sudden, there was a loud popping noise, beginning to echo about the cavern. There were several more popping noises, and everyone froze, just to listen to the sounds. And then…

An explosion, from the far end of the tunnel.

A huge reddish-white cloud erupted from the end of the tunnel, and the people inside there started screaming, some in pain as they were caught in the death cloud, and some in fear and panic of the sudden detonation. I began yelling out too.

"Seiji! Tori!" I shouted out, not really bothering to yell for Oreos. I promptly noticed the explosion coming at me fast, but my legs didn't move. They weren't responding to the frantic demands of my brain. There was no way I could get out of this now. I felt a hand latch onto mine, and noticed it was Seiji. He turned to me, and shouted out his words over the screaming.

"Listen, Sora! We've got to stop this thing, so concentrate your energy into making a shield! A shield that will protect everyone else from that blast!"

I nodded to him numbly, but determinedly. I turned back to the growing result of a detonation, and began to focus hard.

_I bring together the powers of necromancy to raise up a shield of darkness, calling upon the strength of the wise undead to reinforce it!_

I ran the thought over and over again in my head, and felt a large sensation of power grow within me, rising and rising, almost spilling over the top.

The large wings of a demon rose from my back once more, lifting high into the air as if also making a shield. Out from the corner of my scarlet-tinted eyes, beautiful, majestic angel's wings burst from Seiji's back, small drops of crimson blood sliding off the glossy, silky feathers, dripping soundlessly onto the floor.

I felt a sudden burst of energy flare up all around me, creating a huge, black-tinted force shield. Seiji's bright, pure, white shield also flared up, covering up as much space as did mine. Together, our shields protected the rest of the cavern from top to bottom, side to side. Gritting my teeth and closing my eyes, I waited for the impact.

* * *

"So… she's the one." a voice rasped from the seclusions of a shadowed corner in a dimly light room. Another individual in the room nervously nodded, eyes darting about the room timidly.

"Hmm… having her there and the illumancer just isn't going to work." the voice mused, turning two thoughts over and over in his head.

_Capture them both, or kill them?_

Finally, he came up with the first unanimous decision.

"I want you and your assassins to acquire the necromancer, and send the illumancer a letter. I want to see how far he'll go to save the girl," the voice derided.

"Y-yes, sir Demtatrin, I'll see to it immediately sir, good day sir!" the second person mumbled hurriedly. He whipped open the door and ran out, shutting the door behind him tightly.

_Whew, I'm glad I'm out of there_, thought the man walking down the hallway.

_That, and I'm happy I made it out without my intestines being ripped out_, he thought with a shudder.

To obtain the necromancer girl, he either had to get a team of assassins to take her away, or get his best assassin to do the job. But he had been notified of what the girl did to the last assassin he sent to capture her, and it wasn't pretty, from what he had recalled.

_I guess I'll just have to get the team to get her._ And with that thought, the man turned to a set of ominous, black double doors and forged past, as if an evil entity bent on kidnapping a necromantic girl was forcing him to do so.

* * *

I felt a powerful, powerful force slam into me, and I grunted in pain, straining my leg muscles just to keep standing. The blast wrestled with Seiji and me for a moment, a mighty energy explosion almost matching the power of our shields we were trying to withhold.

Many, many pairs of eyes were watching us, watching us the whole time in intense awe, though I paid no attention to them, focusing entirely on the explosion trying to dominate us with its sheer force.

_I will not… I will not let this… I can't let this happen! I will fight. And I will fight hard, to save myself… and others. Others who don't deserve to die._

I strained, and I could see the pain in Seiji's eyes as well. I pushed back with all my might, and saw Seiji doing the same, also pushing back with all of the strength he had left. I realized, feeling cold all over, that we would not be able to hold this back for much longer. Slowly, I raised my hand into the air.

"Sora! Sora, w-what are you d-doing?!" Seiji muttered through his gritted teeth.

"I'm doing what I have to do," I mumbled, closing my eyes again, and slowly, slowly chanted a spell. Growing louder and louder, with each passing word I repeated again and again.

Dark purple runes formed and swirled about me, brightening up with every word, and glowing more brilliantly with every syllable in my chant. My eyes became tinged with a more purple color, overriding the once red hue.

"Dark Inhale," I breathed calmly. What looked like a shadowed portal opened up before me, controlled by raising my hand. I inhaled deeply, and the portal began to literally suck up the blast, which was now disappearing little by little into the portal. I suddenly felt a searing pain in my controlling arm, as if a line of fire was tracing across it. I gritted my teeth hard, trying to douse the pain, but I knew that if I let my concentration stray, the people left in this tunnel would not survive. More and more strands of fire ran across my arm, as if drawing a pattern, all the while I was trying to hold it in.

_Look, Sora, the blast is almost gone. Keep holding it for longer, and everything will be okay. Don't let go of your concentration…_

It was true; there were very little remains of the once-powerful explosion. And soon, the blast was gone. Completely, without a single trace left of it. I drew in a sharp gasp, and let my shield down. Tired from exhausting too much power, I collapsed on the cold, hard floor of the Ant Tunnel.

* * *

"Is she still alive?" I heard quiet murmurs all around me, but didn't bother to open up my eyes.

"I've never seen such power before," a voice mused. There were quiet sighs of agreement.

"But she did save us all from certain death." Another voice spoke. More agreements.

_I wonder who's talking about me… I suppose they could be the spectators of the "Ant Tunnel Incident"_, I thought sarcastically.

Feigning just-waking-up, my eyes fluttered open lazily. Before me was Seiji, but also many others, standing around me, watching me intently.

"Wow, so she isn't dead." I heard a voice say excitedly.

"Of course I'm not dead. If I wasn't, I wouldn't be awake right now." I said skeptically. I heard a squeaking sound.

"Eeep! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I snorted with breif laughter.

"There isn't anything to be sorry about." I said coolly. Groggily, I hopped out of the soft, white bed of the sauna slowly. I turned to Seiji briefly.

"Umm… Seiji? Where's my bow?" I asked, eyes scanning the sauna for any signs of it. Seiji let out a soft 'oh', and said,

"I've got it in my pack, but… it's really scratched up. Like… really, really scratched up," he mumbled.

"I see… gimme the bow anyways. I want to see if I can fix it." I said. Seiji opened up his pack, and pulled out the unruly bow. Seiji was right; it was badly disfigured, with scratches and scorch marks all over it.

"Crap," I muttered. It looked like I would need a new bow.

But then, something in my head clicked.

_What about my arm…? The pain of it… I wonder if anything appeared on it._

I took a peek at my right arm, and gasped.

Glowing with a deep ominous blood red, on my arm, was an insignia. In the insignia, there was a detailed image of a scythe, trailing along the length of my arm. I fingered the scar gently, and was surprised to realize that it felt as if it were carved into my skin. People were peeking over other people's shoulders to see what was happening.

_This can't be… the… the Shadow Crest mark?_ I thought, confused.

_Well… from here, there's only one way to find out._ I forged past everyone with haste, drawing along a crowd with me, following me like I was the leader of them all.

Stepping outside, trying to be secluded from the others, I began to mutter an incantation.

_If I do this correctly, I'll be able to bring forth the Shadow Crest whenever I want to._

The scar on my arm began to burn with intensity, lighting up everything around me with a bright red light. Crimson runes began to dance about my arm, soon sinking into the image of the scythe. I felt a power grow within me, and I reached out for it. I closed my eyes. And, slowly but surely, I felt a nimble weight in my right hand. I opened up my eyes, and in my hand, was the Shadow Crest scythe.

Now, if you recognize it, it was the same scythe that appeared before me when that bitchy NX girl made fun of me. Ah, memories from not too long ago. Although, then, it was summoned because I was extremely angry. Now that I had finished the incantation, I could bring it forth just by thinking about it, and letting it disappear just by willing it to. Also, the appearance of the Shadow Crest also came with cool red-tinged eyes.

I blinked, and swung the scythe, just to test the heaviness of it. It was rather light, in contrast to its large size.

_I guess I'll go test it out, then_, I thought, smiling to myself mysteriously.

* * *

"She has the scythe already… she isn't as foolish as I thought." Demtatrin Rizhet mused to himself, dark eyes blazing with strong intensity.

_It doesn't matter though_, he thought darkly to himself, eyes briefly shining with a shadowy glint.

_She'll be mine, soon enough. And the illumancer will watch me kill her._ Demtratin's eyes flashed once more, before he retreated to the numb comforts of darkness.

* * *

AHAHAHA this chapter is finished, people. Although it was shorter than the rest, I used my spare time to type this up, which I didn't have much of, and so… yeah. I sincerely thank those people who read this and review; it really lets me know that you like it and will take some of your time to leave a review :D

By the way, one-sama, if you're reading this, don't kill me for not loving Oreos oO


	7. A Deathly Silence

**Finding What's Important  
****Chapter 6: A Deathly Silence**

* * *

Wandering about the Ant Tunnel, I searched around for any clues to the person who set that bomb in the tunnel, endangering everyone's lives, including Tori's and Oreo's. Armed with my scythe, and the ability to fly because of my wings, I checked every place there was. Seiji had offered to come, but I strongly said no because of the injuries he sustained. Absent-mindedly, my grip on the scythe's handle tightened. 

_**Thudthudthudthudthudthud…  
**_I perked up, searching for whatever made that sound. I recalled that the sound was someone running across the bumpy floors. I turned my head around, and looked at all sides, but I could not spot the person in the darkness of the tunnel. Something in my head clicked. Taking two of my fingers, I touched them gently to my closed eyes.

"Night Vision," I whispered, not wanting anyone who would happen to be in the tunnel hear me and run for it. I felt a strange sensation at the back of my eyes, and opened them tentatively.

_Yes! It worked_, I thought triumphantly. I blinked a few times, getting used to my sudden ability to see in the dark. Everything was slightly illuminated, yet a little more than enough to be able to see. I heard a rustle at my right side, and I snapped to attention. I beat my wings and rose into the air, looking down at everything. Another rustle, and another. I was starting to get the feeling there was more than one person.

_**Fwish**  
_Something whizzed past my head, and embedded itself into the tunnel ceiling. Flying up to it, I pulled it out and examined it.

_A Tobi throwing star…?_ Confusing as it was, I knew what kind of person was here. Although why, I wasn't so sure.

_Perhaps the people here are the one who set the bomb?_ Clenching my scythe, I flew down to investigate.

_**Fwishfwishfwish  
**_Three more Tobi stars flashed by me, and I avoided them to the best of my ability.

"Come on out," I whispered.

"Come out where I can see you…" I trailed off, readying my scythe, and getting into a battle stance. I caught a flash of sudden movement, to my left.

With lightning-quick reflexes, I twirled my scythe with sudden speed, sending the star flying back with a sharp 'clang' against the stone floor of the cavern.

I saw a humanoid shape dart under me, tossing a star as it passed. I dodged, but a fraction too late. The star sank into my leg, and I hissed in pain. Preparing myself, I bent to my leg and yanked the star out forcefully. I bit my tongue to stop from screaming.

Panting, I tossed the star behind my back, letting it sink into the ground, where later a horned mushroom tried to eat it, choked, and died.

I dived at the figure below me in angry rage, my scythe ready to tear skin. Right before reaching the figure, I hissed at him.

"Boo." And with that single parting response, accompanied with a look of shock, I sliced off his torso from the rest of his body. Warm blood splattered onto my face, whereas I simply wiped it off and licked it off my finger.

_Hmm… his blood was sweet… he would have had a better destiny had he not joined with the dark side._

Slightly rejuvenated from the small amount of blood, there was a renewed dangerous glint in my eyes. Slowly, I turned.

Before me was a band of seven assassins with dull, glazed-over eyes, in a battle stance. It fell into place, and I realized it immediately.

_Mind control… these people are acting against their own will. Rather powerful control, too… perhaps I will try to break it. But first… a battle, if you will._

I hissed at them, egging them on to battle me as I fell into a position of which I could maneuver well in. I held my scythe in front of me protectively. There was a silence, then…

Whispers. Sudden whispers. Echoing, and echoing in and out of the cavern, mixing up with eachother, turning and twisting.

"_Take the girl don't let her escape she will be mine obey me_…" The words echoed again and again, and there was a sudden flash in each of the assassin's eyes. But as soon as they started, they stopped. One of the assassins jumped back to a ledge, and I watched each of them spread out to cover all sides of me. I didn't care.

I arranged myself once more, and then the battle began.

The group of assassins rushed at me with blinding speed, but I leapt into the air, beating my wings furiously. They paused and looked up, and then with another flicker, bounded back and flung stars at me with amazing accuracy. It was hard to avoid seven stars coming at you, and three of the stars found their way into my legs and stomach. I coughed up some blood, but wrenched the two stars from each of my legs and my stomach with force. I held in a scream of agony, but threw the stars down onto the floor.

_It's time… to begin._

The Shadow Crest began to glow fiercely, a mixture of beautiful fiery red and calming purple swirling about it. The glow spread to the rest of my body, and I felt a surge of power. I held up a hand and conjured an orb of pure shadow. Tossing it like a star, two assassins were blown back into the cavern walls, silently fading into unconsciousness. I grinned maniacally. I saw several sparks of light come from my right and left direction, but I simply deflected them with an effortless spin of my scythe. My eyes turned pitch black, and I dove towards one assassin, sending him flying into the side of the cavern with a swing of my scythe. His eyes closed as blood trickled down his forehead. He was out cold. I turned to the last four assassins, but one of them caught my eye.

_That one… he looks familiar somehow. I feel like… like I know him somehow. But I just can't place it._ My thoughts were interrupted with an unexpected slash to my arm, and I realized that one of the assassins had drawn a Shinkita, the blade dripping with blood. Eyes glowing, I was lost in remembrance.

_That Shinkita looks familiar too… wait… impossible! It has that same marking… the one that -_

I didn't get to finish. One of the assassins had me by the neck, pressing me against the wall, drawing a dagger to my throat. This scenario seemed recognizable somehow.

_My dream… it's like the same as my dream, the one I had when all of this started. That suit of armor… it's happening again… no. No! Nononono…_

I was panicking in my mind. I didn't know what to do. Nothing came to me. Nothing at all. I was completely clueless as to what to do.

But then, suddenly, out of the blue, I abruptly released a huge wave of psychic energy, propelling the assassin away from me, and I watched as he clutched his head in pain, eyes shimmering, as though there was a light in them that was flickering on and off. On and off… on and off…

I watched, tears in my eyes, as he fell to his knees. And then, he collapsed on the floor completely.

… _did I… did I do that? Is that why he… he stopped from…_

Two of the remaining assassins suddenly stopped moving, freezing as though they were broken robots. Then, they simply slumped to the floor, unmoving except for only their breathing. But the last one, the one wielding the Shinkita, was the only one standing.

With horror, I stared at him as he took off the black mask covering up most of his face.

"Mike," I whispered, tears cascading down my cheeks.

The remains of his once bright, lively blue eyes were only an overshadowed, dull shade of dim blue.

_Not you too_, I thought bitterly, more tears stinging my eyes.

"I guess… it's only you and me…" The empty shell of what had used to be my friend finally spoke. It had a flat, hollow tone to it, unlike the energetic and playful voice it had once contained.

I suppose I was suffering from denial, because I dumbly shook my head again and again. My brain just did not want accept this. I slid down against the wall of the cold tunnel numbly. I didn't hear his footsteps getting closer to me, nor did I feel him press his blade to my throat. He pressed more roughly against my throat, and I experience a slight trickle of blood run down from the small slit he had made.

Blindly, my hand felt around for his empty one, and when I found it, I grasped it tightly as I could. I sensed Mike tense up, but I only whispered to him then.

"Mike… if you're still in there… I want you to know you are my friend. And a true friend would not go through with this. But… if ever you do… I will not stop you. Kill me, take me away. I won't stop you. You still have my trust. And I know you can break this… this mind control. Because you are stronger than this. If you are truly are my friend… act like it." I said simply. And then I just waited to see what he would do.

* * *

Inside of the sauna, Seiji sat on a bed, constantly refusing assistance with his wounds. 

"I can heal most of it myself," he tried to convince a lady, who looked at him skeptically, but then left his room without a word. Seiji laid back down on the bed hesitantly.

Seiji sighed. He had been notified Sora was back into the Ant Tunnel, searching for whoever started the bomb. He was left with absolutely no idea how she had recovered so fast, while he was still in bed tending to injuries.

"Hmm…" Seiji muttered to himself. He recalled there was something about healing in his Illumancy book. Leaning over the edge of the bed, he rummaged around in his pack until he found the Illumancy book. Opening it up, he searched for the entry, "**Healing Yourself and Others**". If he remembered correctly, Master Grendal had mentioned something about being able to heal any abrasions unless they caused death after the first hit. However, it was a good thing the detonation hadn't. Seiji found a page entitled, "**Healer's Bless**". Reading the description and the incantation in his head, he began to chant the magically endowed words under his breath.

"I call upon the foundations of healing to take care of my wounds, to heal every injury upon my body," he chanted slowly and clearly.

Seiji felt a warm sensation completely surround his body, and felt each one of his injuries stitch themselves back together, leaving no scars or marks whatsoever. The warmth sank into him, and he felt reinvigorated. Hopping off his bed, he walked out the sauna door whistling a happy tune, while the lady previously mentioned before stared at him in wonder.

* * *

I waited, my eyes closed tightly, waiting for him to kill me, or whatever. But the pain never came. I cracked open my eyes hesitantly, and was surprised to see Mike collapsed on the floor, and clutching his head tightly, as though he was being tortured. 

"_He is."_ My eyes widened, as I distinguished the voice as Lady Arianna.

"_You know what you must do to save your friend. You already know he is being controlled by a powerful adversary. But you too are powerful, and I believe that you can free him."_

I nodded in determination, gritting my teeth, as I slowly crawled up to Mike, while he was shaking slightly. Beads of cold sweat ran down his face, and I recognized that as trying to fight against the person holding his mind. Abruptly, he turned over onto his back, eyes clouded over, but unmoving. If I were to save him, I would have to act fast. But what would I do? Lady Arianna's voice whispered in my head.

"_Use your spells, my child. If you use the spell correctly, you will be able to expel him from the mind control."_

It came to me then. Placing one of my fingers against his pale forehead, I whispered two words.

"Darkness Dispel."

It was prompt. Waves of energy ran down the length of my arm, and flowed into Mike, allowing him more power to fight the control of the evil entity. I heard him grunt in pain, but also felt myself weakening from draining away my energy. Rolls of fatigue washed over me, threatening to send me into unconsciousness.

_If I am able to hold this long enough, Mike will be free._

That single thought was enough to keep me awake, just long enough to…

"Sora!"

* * *

I awoke inside the sauna once more, blinking my eyes repeatedly to get used to the sudden light. I felt considerably more comfortable, and looked down to see I was wearing a simple, black gown. 

Sitting up, and rubbing my eyes, I looked about. No one else was around.

A wave of pain shot through my heart suddenly, and I cried out, holding the place where my heart was.

_I feel as though I just lost something… someone important to me…_

Realization flashed through me.

… _Mike…_

Tears spilled from my eyes, cascading down my cheeks, leaving only a glistening trail of what once was there.

_I couldn't save him. He is still under the control, isn't he… and it's my fault that I couldn't help him._

Seiji entered the room. I looked down, trying to conceal the trails of tears. But he saw them, and sat near the bed I was resting on.

"What… what happened?" I mumbled, attempting to not let my voice break. It failed miserably.

"I found you in the Ant Tunnel, collapsed on the floor."

"W… was there anyone else with me?"

"Well… no. I didn't see anyone else with you." Seiji's words verified it. I had let Mike down, and there wasn't anything I could do.

I choked out a sob, though not wanting Seiji to see me now in my moment of weakness.

_Mike… I'm sorry…_

And then… I felt the one thing holding me together suddenly… _snap_.

Rage coursed through my veins, and I felt a fearsome growl erupt from my throat. I began to glow. Angry red and furious purple swirled around me heatedly, threatening to explode with fury. I closed my eyes, and whispered a word.

"Clairvoyance."

In my mind's eye, I saw an image of Mike begin to form.

_He's unconscious… but what is that? That shadow… could it be…?_

"_Yes, my child. It is… Demtatrin Rizhet. He is the one behind all of this. And he wants you, my child…"_ Lady Arianna's soft voice trickled through my mind. Anger pumped through me once more at the mention of his name, but a chill ran down my spine.

"_Although… you may not remember him… he was the one… who killed me, long, long ago." _My eyes flickered. Killed… Lady Arianna? Impossible. Lady Arianna couldn't have…

"_It is true. He killed me; what's more he's going after you and your friends now. It seems as though he has taken one, though."_ Mike. Of course. Demtatrin was trying to get to me by using my friends.

_That… that bastard…_

I watched on in my vision. Demtatrin's red eyes glowed threateningly, as though he could see me.

"_Oh, but I can, dear Sora."_ I felt myself growing cold, and soon, everything around me faded to black. I sat heavily on the floor on my bottom, as though something pushed me down.

Appearing before me… was Demtatrin Rizhet himself. I froze. Seeing this, Demtatrin simply chuckled. But there was no humor in it.

"My dear Sora… you look so cold… what's the matter with you?" he said softly, voice tinged with hatred and sorrow. He kneeled down and enveloped me in his even colder arms.

_W-what's going on?!_ My panic meter was out of control. I sensed something bad going to happen, but I was rendered completely immobile, like a statue. I tried to struggle out of his grip, but again, I could not move. I felt his cold hand brush against the back of my neck, and then I felt utterly numb.

_What… what's he… doing…?_ I thought weakly. It felt like he was sapping away all of my energy, leaving me powerless. I slumped over, as if I were a wet rope. His arms gripped me tighter, and he whispered into my ear.

"You don't know how much I love you, dear Sora." Ice cold chills rippled down my spine.

"And yet," he continued, "I must kill you." Then, everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

I let out a weak gasp as he drew a knife, and then cut multiple incisions into the section between my shoulder blades, slicing through the weak fabric of my clothes and into the skin rather easily. Blood dripped down slightly, and soaked into the material of the gown, running into more places to make these sudden trails of liquid longer.

"But don't worry. I save the best… for last." Demtatrin dropped me onto the floor and stood, watching me bleed. He began to whisper and chant ancient words under his breath. There was a sudden agonizing, burning pain in the cuts in my back, and I could not help but scream.

Demtatrin chuckled once more.

"Now… I can visit you in your dreams… and I'll make them _nightmares_…" And with that, he disappeared, leaving only an echo of icy laughter behind, while I lay on the floor, numb.

_This can't be… happening…_

And then…

There was silence within my mind once more.

* * *

Yes, people, chapter 6 is over! So dramatic, isn't it o.O;; 


	8. Captive

**Finding What's Important  
****Chapter 7: Captive**

* * *

I awoke within a pitch black room.

I doubted whether I was awake or not; I couldn't see any part of me moving to verify I was indeed roused from my sleep. I tested flexing one of my fingers, but I was dismayed at the fact that it felt as though my hands were tightly bound with something rough.

Blinking just to see if I was dreaming or not, I finally came to the conclusion I was not. At once, my mind began to analyze the scene around me.

_It seems to be a… a stone room? It's so cold in here…_

A shiver erupted and traveled down my spine.

_Click_

My ears caught the sound before my brain actually noticed it. Head snapping up, I still could see nothing but pure, shadowy black. Ominous dark whispering suddenly started up, reverberating from wall to wall, the echoes mixing and colliding with each other. The words entered my ears, and I could not process what they were saying fast enough before they were gone.

_Click_

That sound again.

_What is it?_ I was beginning to get scared. Imagine yourself in a pitch black room, with your hands tied with some kind of rope, unable to move and hearing scary, mysterious whispers.

I tried to open my mouth to say something, to scream, anything, but it was only then I realized my mouth was sealed with a strip of adhesive tape. In bewilderment, I thought,

_What the… what is going on here?_ Panicking, I began to squirm around furiously, a pathetic attempt to loosen my bonds.

_Damn it… these ropes are too tight…_

"So, you're awake now, aren't you?" My head turned to where I though the voice came from, yet the words bounced off the walls. A light from nowhere clicked on.

In the harsh illumination of the light, I saw none other than Demtatrin Rizhet.

Angrily, I tried to shout at him to let me go, but all that came out was muffled gibberish. I squirmed around again, tugging at my bonds. Rizhet loosed a relentless chuckle, shaking his head slightly.

… I'm pretty sure he was mocking me.

Stepping over to me, he cupped my chin in one hand, forcefully tilting my head up to face him. I averted my eyes; a weak attempt to stay away from his soul-piercing gaze.

A rocketing pain shot through my heart, and my eyes widened in pain. Again and again, more pangs of pain speared through. It hurt so much, I doubled over; it felt like… heartache. Memories from long ago began to surface from the covering my mind had forced them under. They began to flash past my eyes, as if they had somewhere special to be. I started to taste something salty and coppery in my mouth; it didn't take too long for me to realize it was blood. I felt the stickiness of the tape on my mouth wear away, and I shook my head furiously, gaining enough momentum to fling the tape off, and Rizhet's hand.

Now having a free place to run from, crimson dripped down the corner of my mouth. I coughed and choked. Blood splashed on the cold, gray, stone floor in little droplets, creating a sick painting-like image; with I as the unwilling painter. I fell over on my side, doubling over in mind-shattering pain. As much as I wanted to fall unconscious, just black out, I could not. My mind had betrayed me, forcing me to stay awake through this horrible torment. My eyes were open in shock, with tears threatening to spill from them.

I started feeling the ropes around my wrists loosen and fall off completely; I was then faintly aware Rizhet was behind me, untying the bonds. I heard him whispering something to himself, something that sounded much like "she will be mine", but nothing more as the blessed darkness draped over my vision once more.

* * *

"What the hell do you mean she's missing?!" A furious Tori shouted crossly at Seiji, berating him angrily with her tone of voice. Seiji backed away a little, raising his hands in defeat.

"I don't know! She just disappeared! All I saw was that Sora started glowing weirdly for a moment, but then she was gone!" Seiji desperately tried telling Tori the truth, trying to avoid her wrath. Tori sat down heavily onto a chair, also breathing heavily. Face-palming, she slowly began to calm down, and then reviewed over everything Seiji had just told her.

"Okay… so… Sora asked if anyone was in the Ant Tunnel with her… which you replied to as no… and then she got angry and started glowing." Seiji nodded nervously.

"And then… she said something like 'clairvoyance', then she disappeared?" Seiji nodded again.

Tori sighed deeply, as though a great burden was placed on her back.

"Where do you think we'll find her, then?" Tori asked, calmed down considerably. But before Seiji got a chance to answer, Oreos barged into the room, holding Seiji's "Illumancy" book.

"Look here, Seiji, I think I've found something in your book that'll help you find your girlfriend," Oreos said breathlessly. Seiji turned deep red, and hissed,

"She's not my girlfriend." Oreos snickered, but kept his composure, mumbling "yet" under his breath. Seiji pretended not to hear. Opening the book to a certain page, he pointed to a passage on a page.

"Look, it says 'Scrying', kinda like what Sora used, except she said 'Clairvoyance' instead. Read this part about what it does." Silently and quickly, Seiji complied, scanning through the passage swiftly but thoroughly. His eyes brightened up as soon as he was finished reading the passage.

"Um… listen, guys… I'm gonna have to ask you guys to leave, so I can concentrate on this." Oreos and Tori shot each other a look, but complied, leaving through the door and closing it behind them.

Turning back to the book, Seiji closed his eyes, and imagined a picture of Sora's face in his mind.

"Scrying," he whispered, trying hard to keep the image of Sora in his mind, and to not let it drift off to anything else.

"I ask a favor of those of light to grant me this power of scrying, to see and find Sora Tenshi, the necromancer," he muttered under his breath. Seiji was suddenly aware of a shining light hovering by his face, and was surprised to see a strange portal thing drifting by his head.

He almost reached out to touch it, but his hand faltered as Sora's pale face appeared in the midst of it. His blood ran cold when he saw what unfolded before him with malicious humor.

_

* * *

Sora sat on the floor, eyes closed limply. She began to stir, eyes fluttering as she awoke. Looking around, her eyes were only met with black darker than the midnight. A thin piece of tape covered her mouth, and her arms were tied roughly behind her. Briefly beginning to struggle, she was soon faced with the fact she could not get loose._

_There was an odd clicking sound reverberating throughout this strange drab-gray brick room. And then the whispering started, echoing all over the room eerily._

_Sora was becoming visibly afraid; anyone could have realized it, as her eyes were darting back and forth nervously. There was an abrupt clicking sound, followed by more. And then… _

_A light flicked on, dimly illuminating the chamber. Able to see who was standing there now, Seiji saw the wicked Demtatrin Rizhet. He kneeled down and cupped her face in his hand, and he could feel the coldness of her glare upon Rizhet. He saw Sora's eyes widen in sudden, spasming pain, and the tape covering her mouth slipped off, yet revealing a lone trickle of red running down the edge of her mouth. She was leaning over and coughing blood all over the cold stone floor, whereas all Rizhet did was watch on, a wickedly humorous glint surfacing over his eyes._

_Even though Seiji watched on, he felt a pain spear through his heart as he watched this act of horror continue on, before Sora finally fainted, Rizhet carrying her deeper into the darkness._

* * *

Seiji's eyes snapped open, and unbeknownst to him, were glowing a violent dark blue. Benevolent as he was before, all he felt was pure rage now, and that rage was coursing through his veins, fueling his heart to drive him towards Sora. Two glistening, ivory-white angel's wings burst forth from his back, spraying droplets of blood everywhere around him. His pupils contracted, growing smaller and smaller until his eyes were pure, gleaming blue.

"Aurora Blade!" he whispered, and a globe of untainted, lustrous white fell into his hand. He closed his hand into a fist, forcing the globe to elongate, growing longer and longer before it shaped into the most graceful-yet-deadliest blades of all.

A lengthy, arched razor-sharp blade grew from a majestic stone hilt, the edged parts of the blade tinted with soft blue. Upon the hilt was a beautiful ice-blue gem, and closer to the bottom the stone handle crossed, holding a round, blue gem between it. Growing from the hilt's top was a white-stone angel wing, curving down slowly until it touched the hilt bottom.

Brandishing the sword in front of him, he sliced an exit into the back of the sauna, and rushed out from there. If anyone was there to see this, they would have seen a burst of white, and that would be all. But today, no one was at Sleepywood. Word had quickly traveled around the island, telling everyone there were strange happenings at the Dungeon.

_I know where she is._

He leapt high into the air, as far as being underground would allow him, and with a slight flutter of his imposing wings, he plummeted down towards the Ant Tunnel once again.

* * *

Seiji had gotten as far as the legendary Drake's Meal Table, where many a drake spawned to feast on unprepared travelers, jagged claws tearing through flesh while massive jaws bared and snapped. The Cold Eyes, mutated versions of the Evil Eyes, drained of all color and inheriting the bitter cold from the environment around them, devoured the remains of a drake's feast in a flash.

Hovering just above the claws of drakes and bites from Cold Eyes, he continued on, eyes glittering a bitter blue. It was freezing cold here, but he felt unaffected by it, his new snow-white robes gleaming with an edge of gold seemingly absorbing the cold for him.

Soon, however, his attention was brought to a small indent in one of the rocky blue surfaces.

_Huh… what's this here?_

Raising his hand to the indent, he pushed on it, and was surprised to see it scoot back a little bit. He pushed harder, and it scooted back a little more. Suddenly, it forced itself up again, locking whatever was behind it again. It was like this for Seiji for several minutes, before he got frustrated and blasted the indent with a powerful ray of holy energy. This time, it slid back all the way, and the wall unlocked itself, revealing a dark cave. Seiji was silent.

_What is this? Could it be a trap?_ But even though he had his doubts, he had to go forward. With his robes swishing gently against the stony, icy ground beneath him, he stepped into the cave, the darkness swallowing him up immediately…

* * *

… Only to find himself falling, falling down into an endless abyss. His wings flared up by instinct, and there was a distinct glow from his wings that illuminated the cavern he was in. Slowly, he set himself down on a cavern platform, eyeing the place suspiciously. What kind of monster was ahead, possibly waiting to devour his soul?

A roar split the eerie silence of the cavern, rumbling the whole thing and almost throwing Seiji off balance.

_There it is._

There were many shadows cast by the glow from his wings, and from a rocky outcropping's shadow, an enormous, twice-the-size-than-any-other Wild Kargo emerged, tossing its giant muzzle and eyes glowing madly. But, unlike any other Kargo, this one was black-furred and purple-eyed. He knew then that this was not a normal Kargo, and instead, it was the feared King Kargo.

Brandishing his blade, he waited for the Kargo to make its first move.

Instead, though, it began to speak, its deep, echoing voice rattling the whole chamber.

"I…" it began, "am the first step towards finding your necromancer. You must defeat me and take the key within my eye." One of its eyes glittered and Seiji could see a golden key embedded in it.

The King Kargo arched its back, giant hackles raised, ready to attack. Massive fangs bared, it snarled, "Begin."

Seiji was quick to move out of the way as it suddenly pounced at him, nearly crushing him. Seiji looked at his Aurora Blade. It was shining tremendously, white light radiating from it. For now, however, Seiji sheathed his blade, and was left only with his hands. The Kargo was confused. A human without his weapon, against such a mighty beast like himself?

Seiji's eyes glowed, a ring of white from the outer parts of his eyes fading into the innermost parts, where his pupils would be. His right hand shot out, and gestured at a large bundle of giant icicle-shaped stalactites. With a swoop of his hand, he tore out the stalactite with telekinetic energy, and flung it at the King Kargo with another wave of his hand. The Kargo jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being speared through the head. Instead, the stalactite embedded itself deeply into the cavern wall. The giant black cat-like monster blinked.

_Such power… but I will not be felled so easily._ Claws unsheathed, like a cat it leaped at Seiji again, oversized claws slicing into his arm. Seiji bit his lip to avoid crying out in pain.

_Damn_, he thought, _that monster gouged me pretty well._

Seiji's left hand glowed with green energy, healing the arm up instantly. Seiji's eyes shot around the cavern, looking for any other resource he could use for a weapon against the Kargo. He refused to use his sword; he had a feeling he would only need it for the last battle. He saw another bundle of cold, stone stalactites, and he suddenly he had an idea. These kinds of stalactites were tall, almost as thick as an Ellinian tree's trunk. Summoning his telekinetic energy again, he clenched his hand into a fist and brought it sharply upwards.

With a sharp "CRACK" and a groan, the mineral icicle was wrenched from its crook in the cave, and was flung down in front of the King Kargo, the sharp point embedding itself deeply into the floor. Quickly, Seiji wrenched out another one and thrust it into the floor again, and another, and another, and yet another until finally there was a thick ring made of stalactites built up against the King Kargo. It roared, smashing its whole weight against the ring, but to no avail. It was trapped.

Seiji's hand began to glow a bright white, a beautiful white, and flung it down with a force. A large orb of energy seemed to sharpen itself as it fell, and with growing dread, the King realized…

It had lost.

_Shiiik_

The spear sunk itself deeply into the Kargo's black-furred head, now matted with its own oddly purple blood. With a tremendous "**THUD**", the Kargo toppled forward and lay there, still and unmoving. Seiji had won. He was tired, though, as the Kargo's giant eye rolled out of its socket and stopped in front of him. Reaching into the eye, however, wasn't as 'gross' as he thought it would be. Instead, it felt like reaching into water, albeit thick water. He felt around the pupil for the key, and tore it out, his hand coming out surprisingly clean.

The golden key shimmered in his hand as he trudged slowly towards a keyhole in the back of the cavern.

Sticking the key in, he turned it clockwise once. Suddenly, golden cracks appeared all over the flattened cave wall, and there was a boom in the cavern, and another boom, roughly rattling weak stalactites. The wall began to fall away, starting from the top. Pieces of rock rained down upon him, and he had to put up a glowing golden-shaded shield to protect himself from getting crushed.

Rocks from outside bounced off his shield, falling onto the ground after their descent. Before him, however, was another darkened chamber. The only lights were from his wings. Surprisingly, wind began to howl through the cave, ruffling his wing feathers and pushing his hair into his eyes. The gusts grew in power, forcing Seiji to hold his ground against the wind. But… suddenly, through the darkness, the shadow began to fade because of a dull light switching on slowly. He looked around, and the cavern he was in was immense, easily twice the size of the previous cavern, and he had fought a King Kargo in there. Instead, though, the rest he saw made his blood run ice-cold.

Sora was bound against a flat, sienna-colored wall, as was the rest of the chamber, unlike the last blue-tinted cave he was in. But, instead of a normal rope bounding her, there was a strange, glowing red energy-chain holding her captive. Behind her, on the wall, was a large scarlet circle with a star in fitted it, each of its five points stretching out farther to touch the ends of the cave. She did not resist her bonds though, and her head hung limply, seemingly unconscious.

"Sora!" he exclaimed, dashing as fast as he could towards Sora. Suddenly there was a flash of midnight black, and Seiji skidded to a stop, still far, far away from Sora. Demtatrin Rizhet appeared in the flash of black, and his eyes glinted insanely.

"I'm… surprised you made it alive past the King Kargo I set back there," he whispered harshly. "But you'll still have to get through me." Seiji gritted his teeth, and spoke up.

"If defeating you is gonna save Sora, then I'll do whatever it takes to take you down." And Rizhet started to laugh. His mocking laughter echoed throughout the cave, and Sora began to stir, eyes blinking and head rising slightly.

"S… Seiji?" she asked tiredly, her eyes glazed over with drowsiness, and her face a sickly pale. Her white bandana had been removed, and her hair hung over her face, matted slightly with blood.

"Sora…" he whispered, and his eyes began to glow madly. Flashing a dark blue, he leapt into the air, beating his wings mightily. Rizhet only watched in amusement as a white blur hurtled at him at the speed of light. Raising his fist, however, he clenched it, and Seiji's attention was drawn towards Sora's sudden cry of pain. He stopped rushing at Rizhet and looked up to Sora, to his horror. A blade of darkness had appeared, and it mercilessly rammed itself into Sora's stomach, where then she coughed up blood, spattering it all over the ground. Tears dripped from Sora's eyes, and Seiji found himself welling up with tears as well.

Blinking them away, he glared at Rizhet. Rizhet smirked.

"Come get me now," he hissed. New anger pouring through his veins, Seiji swiftly teleported behind Rizhet in a flash and delivered a sharp kick to his back, sending him sprawling across the floor. Rizhet got up, wiping a bit of blood from his mouth.

"Smart move, illumancer," he snarled, "but not enough." Reaching from his back, Rizhet pulled from an invisible sheath a sword, immensely large, perhaps larger than Seiji's Aurora Blade. The end of its handle was spiked and sharp, a spherical jewel set in the middle of it. The blade was almost as tall as Rizhet himself. It was almost like it was made of pure darkness.

"I like to call this the Shadow Abyss," Rizhet snickered. "I think you may find it a formidable opponent." And with that said, he dove at Seiji, brandishing the blade at an angle which would have probably cleaved his head off, if it had struck correctly.

Seiji had barely enough time to avoid the slashing arc from the gigantic blade, and teleported to the side. But before his mind could register it, Rizhet had disappeared into a cloak of shadows.

_What?! Where did he-_ Seiji did not get to finish his thought, as suddenly Rizhet shot out of the darkness, swiping the blade at him again. He stepped back, but it was not enough to avoid the score across his stomach. Seiji almost keeled over. It seemed as though the Shadow Abyss truly was made of wicked shadows, because as he looked down at his freely-bleeding wound, a strange cloak of darkness was covering it, flowing into his wound and causing him to drop onto his knees in sudden mind-numbing pain.

_Oh, crap.

* * *

_


	9. Ultimate Sacrifice

**Finding What's Important  
****Chapter 8 : Ultimate Sacrifice**

_

* * *

This is NOT good… Seiji thought to himself, pain spreading everywhere throughout his body._

"S… Seiji!" Sora cried out faintly, but fell silent again, suddenly weaker. Tears quietly fell from her eyes, staining her sickly-pale face. Her eyelids drooped, and, with growing dread, he knew that Sora was dying.

He _had_ to save her, or else all of Victoria Island, and perhaps the rest of the continents across the Maple world would be doomed.

'_My child…_' Seiji started, eyes growing wide. What was that voice? Could it be…?

'_Yes, my child… It is I, Lady Arianna._' A beautiful purple glow bathed his wound, cleansing it of the spreading darkness.

Rizhet's eyes widened in shock, as slowly, gradually, Lady Arianna herself began to fade into view, standing next to Seiji, an intricately carved staff made of ivory and encrusted with violet jewels in her hand, dressed in a smooth, silky black robe.

"You will _not_ harm this illumancer," she said harshly, raising her staff in a defensive pose. It took a moment for Rizhet to gather his senses, but when he did, he laughed cruelly.

"Oh, really, _dearest_. I killed you before, and I can kill you again." Rizhet hissed, putting venomous emphasis on "dearest".

"Not if I can help it," Lady Arianna retorted, suddenly gathering a ball of amethyst-colored energy into her hand, and rushing forward.

Rizhet had not been expecting this attack, and no doubt he was surprised when Lady Arianna rammed the energy orb into his chest, sending him flying backwards into a wall, sending dust flying everywhere. Seiji watched in amazement, as Lady Arianna had just demonstrated her awesome power. But as the dust cleared, Rizhet had gotten himself out of the crater in the wall, and was walking unsteadily towards Sora, blood trickling down from the edge of his mouth. Seiji was alarmed. What was he doing? Seiji and Lady Arianna rushed towards Rizhet to stop him, but suddenly he felt himself being thrown back as an invisible barrier shimmered to life between them and Rizhet. He pounded against the walls, not caring even when sudden waves of pain shot through his hands.

Lady Arianna pulled him back gently, whispering, "Stop, my child. Let us see what he is doing." Seiji swallowed uncomfortably, but agreed.

Watching with sudden tears brimming in his eyes, he saw Rizhet go up to Sora. The rest made his brain scream in fury and pain.

Rizhet had suddenly grown two sharp _fangs_ where there were once two normal incisors. He suddenly pulled the already-weakened Sora off of the strange star, and, wrapping his arms around her fragile body, he sank his fangs into her neck, drawing blood out of her. Her eyes widened for a brief second, before suddenly they closed shut. Slowly but surely, her breathing was becoming shallower as more blood was taken from her. And yet, just as she was on the brink of death, Rizhet let go of her, laying her on the ground as he wiped blood from his mouth. He turned to Seiji and Lady Arianna again, eyes opalescent with blood. _Sora's_ blood. The blood had renewed his energy, and, with growing dread, Seiji realized that Demtatrin Rizhet was a vampire.

"I told you," he snarled, "that the necromancer is _mine_. And she will be, forever." With those words, he used one of his sharp fangs to slit open one of his wrists, and held it calmly over Sora's mouth. Small drops of blood beaded from the wound, and condensed at the middle, where, once it was heavy enough, would drop into Sora's mouth. Seiji watched in horror as one drop of blood fell… two drops of blood… three, four…

_**SHRIIIIIIEEEEK!  
**_Sora's eyes snapped open, glowing an unearthly, demonic red. Fangs sprouted from where her incisors were, and she bared her new, knife-sharp teeth at Rizhet himself. He pulled back his arm and his slit on his wrist healed in an instant. Sudden, sharp claws grew from her fingers, and, turning to Seiji and Lady Arianna, launched herself at Lady Arianna, tackling her to the floor.

"Sora!" she exclaimed, trying to push her off, yet to no avail. Sora slashed at Lady Arianna, because in her sudden rage of blood-lust, she could not recognize who she was. Muttering an incantation, Lady Arianna teleported herself away from Sora, and left her on the floor, squirming, trying to figure out where she had gone. Turning to Seiji, she sent him a telepathic message.

'_My child… I am sorry to say that Rizhet has taken control of Sora now… The only way to help her now… is to kill her._' The words echoed in Seiji's head, ringing in his mind.

_Kill… her?_ For some reason, the words just didn't make sense in his head. _I can't kill her… I __**won't**__ kill her._

'_Would you rather sacrifice yourself then? Remember, child, that if you die, she will die as well. There is no other solution._' An idea sparked into Seiji's mind.

_That's it!_ Lady Arianna shot a quizzical look at him, but he did not have time to answer, as he clasped his hands together and slowly brought them apart again, a sudden shaft of light spreading through the gap from his hands.

"I hereby bring an item to this world, an item made from lights of pure, to be held by hands, and I send forth this arrow!" Seiji recited the words aloud in a strong, firm voice; they were the exact words spoken by him to summon the arrow of light while at his house with Sora.

The shaft of light elongated, forming a sharp, golden tip while the other end was laced with silver feathers.

_I'm no archer… but I can do this._ Holding his hand out, he summoned forth a bow of light, twanging the gold string lightly with his finger. Setting the arrow to the bow, he aimed it at Rizhet himself, and fired.

The arrow sailed through the air in a straight, deadly line towards where Rizhet's heart would be, yet, before the arrow could reach even a hair's width towards Rizhet, Sora had suddenly come into the picture, deflecting the arrow with an abrupt spin of her Shadow Crest scythe. Seiji noticed that she had a sudden change of clothing; ebony black armor covered her chest and arms, and her legs and feet. Dark silver patterns were engraved into her armor.

"You will not harm the master," she said emotionlessly. Falling into a fighting stance, she prepared to defend her so-called 'master' at the price of her own life. Seiji felt something jab sharply at his heartstrings. How could he fight her?

Nevertheless, he brought forth his true weapon, trading out the bow for the Aurora Blade. Preparing himself, he had no choice but to fight Sora.

_Rizhet, you demon… the reckoning for this WILL come. _Seiji gritted his teeth as Sora rushed at him, twirling her scythe and sending a blast of dark energy towards him. Launching himself into the air, he avoided the blast, his wings lifting him high into the air. There was a sudden "**shriiiiip**" sound, as Sora's own demon wings tore out from her back, and she took after him in the air.

With a sudden start, Seiji realized that Lady Arianna was no longer with him, and he would have to fight this battle alone. Desperately, he reached out towards her with telepathic communication.

_Lady Arianna, you've got to help me! Rizhet's got Sora under his spell, and - _The communication stopped short, as Sora rammed full-force into him, sending him crashing down to the ground in a sudden cloud of dust. Coughing slightly, he stood up again, with Sora standing a couple feet away from him, surprisingly unharmed. There was a faint glaze over her eyes, which had now, for some reason, turned permanently crimson red.

To Seiji's relief, Lady Arianna's voice began ringing through his head.

'_I am sorry to have abandoned you, my child, but I had to get something that may help you during your battle.'_ Lady Arianna's form materialized right next to Seiji, and in her hand she held a heavy, black book, with strange, rusted chains wrapped around it. In the very middle of the book was a skull head, horns placed at the top of its head. It grimaced endlessly at him, sending shivers down his spine.

'_If you can get close enough to Rizhet to use a binding spell, you can seal him into this book for the rest of eternity… but, like anything else… there is a price. The price of your life.'_ … rest of eternity…

"… I'll do it." he said to himself quietly. _I'll do it…_

He took the book from Lady Arianna, and she nodded, stepping back. It was hard to maneuver a sword with a book in your hand; however he could still manage it. Sora growled at him, sensing an aura to the book that was harmful to her 'master'.

'_Get the book,'_ Rizhet whispered into her head. '_Get the book, and kill the illumancer…_' Sora gave a slow nod. Kill… she liked to kill.

Tearing towards Seiji at top-speed, she prepared her scythe to cleave off his head in a single swoop. But Seiji was ready for the assault. Holding out one hand towards her, he quickly chanted an incantation.

"I call forth the boundaries of light to create an unbreakable barrier!" A large, cylinder of light suddenly locked itself into place around Sora. She snarled, slamming herself into the walls, but to no avail. Like it said in the incantation, this barrier was unbreakable, reinforced by the spirits of light.

Rizhet turned towards Seiji, a sharp, dark glint in his eye. Holding out his hand, the Shadow Abyss appeared in it, and he put himself in a fighting stance.

"I will _not_ go down without a fight, illumancer," he hissed, brandishing the blade at Seiji. Seiji grinned.

"So be it." With that, he launched himself at Rizhet, aiming a kick at his chest.

Diving out of the way, Rizhet swung at Seiji with his sword, blood erupting from the wound where it bit into his shoulder. Biting his lip to keep from yelling out in pain, Seiji brought his Aurora Blade down on Rizhet's head, only to have it blocked by a rising of the Shadow Abyss. While the two were locked like that, glaring into each other's eyes, Seiji brought his leg up and kicked Rizhet hard in the stomach, knocking the air out of him. Rizhet, who had now fallen out of the two swords' lock, collapsed onto his back. Sora, on the other hand, was suddenly now quiet. Seiji peered over his shoulder a brief second to see what she was doing.

And yet… she was just standing there. There was a dark glaze over her eyes, and she did not move at all. This slightly unnerved Seiji… what had happened to her? The answer came with an ear-splitting '_**CRASH**_'.

The barrier of reflected light that was once around Sora now lay at her feet like broken glass. She had been concentrating hard… or had she?

"Seiji," she whispered, falling to her knees. Her eyes began to well up with liquid, but it was not tears. No, it was blood. Scarlet drops of blood fell from her eyes, staining where they landed with a cloud of red. Seiji was alarmed. What was happening to Sora?

"I… I'm… s-sorry…" she murmured, before falling to the ground with a soft '_thump_'.

Seiji's thoughts, however, were suddenly interrupted by a sharp punch to the face. He fell over, wincing. Standing over him with a menacing aura to him was Rizhet, with the Shadow Abyss positioned over Seiji's head, ready to come crashing down to end his life.

"I will _end_ this, once and for all," Rizhet hissed, and he swung it down.

"No!" There was a far cry from the end of the room. Lady Arianna! She flew at Rizhet with blinding speed, and tackled him to the floor, knocking him down.

"What?!" Rizhet's eyes flashed in anger, and he swatted Lady Arianna away with a powerful sweep of his hand. Lady Arianna slid to a stop near the end of the cavern. She did not get up, but it was evident she was still alive.

Rizhet turned to Seiji.

"This means _nothing_!" he growled, and grabbed the Shadow Abyss again. Seiji, though, by this time, had gotten to his feet, and prepared a spell to immobilize Rizhet.

"I call forth the ancestors of illumancy to lock this shadow in place," he called. Tendrils of light erupted from the palm of his hand, and, with a slight "slither" sound, constricted themselves around Rizhet's body, pinning his limbs together so he could not move.

"No… no, no, NO, NO, **NO**!" Rizhet fought at his bonds, trying to rip free from the crushing light. Seiji grinned tiredly. It was time to end this, once and for all… But wait. What of Sora? Seiji turned around, and saw that Sora was still upon the floor. Rushing over to her, he turned her over and softly brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"Sora…" he murmured, hugging her close to his body. "Please, wake up…" Sora's eyes fluttered open gently, and she had a faint look to her eyes.

"Seiji… gomen… nasai…" she said softly. He smiled at her; there wasn't much of a need to apologize.

"Can you stand up? I need your help…" he said. Sora nodded sleepily. She unsteadily got up, using Seiji as a support. Seeing the book in his hand, a determined look sparked over her eyes, and she prepared to sacrifice her one and only life to seal the one thing that had caused so much pain to her.

"… Let's do this." she said. _I won't regret this…_

"To seal this demon, let it be seen, to seal all the pain, for all those who have felt this pain, let it be banished, at the cost of two lives, _let it be sealed!_" Seiji felt an odd sense of serenity and peace wash over him as a bright, white light exploded from the book and showered over the three. A tendril of white light burst from the pages of the book and wrapped itself tightly around Rizhet's body.

"**NOOO!**" Slowly, it began to drag Rizhet down into the depths of the book. More showers of white light shone forth from the book, and amidst all of this, Seiji and Sora felt… at peace. Turning to each other, they both felt their life energy being sapped away in order to power the book. But in the end, it would all be worth it.

"Seiji…" Sora breathed, giving him a soft, tired smile. "I love you." And with those last words, before the last of their time, Sora kissed him in their moment of death, their first and last kiss to ever be.

"I'll see you… in Heaven…" Seiji whispered, and with that, the book snapped shut. It had drained all of their energy in order to draw Rizhet in. Seiji let the book fall from his grip with a gentle 'clang' upon the floor. And so they died, gently falling down from their standing point, forever to sleep again, forever their eyes closed.

All, forevermore.

_You won't hear the last of me, however._ And the skull upon the book glowed red.

* * *

D: Story is over now. There will be an epilogue, however. xD Super big thanks to my reviewers, mainly Kal Ancalas. :P Though thankies for everyone who reviewed still. x3 


	10. Dark Charade

**Finding What's Important  
****Epilogue : Dark Charade**

* * *

A year. 

A year had passed since the incident with vampire Demtatrin Rizhet. Everyone since had learned of the story, because the only person to survive was Lady Arianna. She had brought back the bodies of Seiji Kusanagi and Sora Tenshi, leaving the book where Rizhet had been sealed.

_Let it rest there for all eternity,_ she thought to herself wearily.

There had been a proper funeral since then, Sora's family and Seiji's family coming to mourn for them both. Needless to say, there was not a single dry-eye to be found.

Lady Arianna spoke of everything that had happened to them as she watched them defeat and seal Rizhet to the book, how they had been forced to fight one another when Rizhet had taken control of Sora's mind, how Sora fought against Rizhet's hold on her mind, how Seiji had captured Rizhet, down to the very last detail where they had both sacrificed themselves to lock the vampire in the rusty, chained book.

The tale had long-since been circulating around Victoria Island, even towards the land of Ossyria to the land of Ludibrium, from a story to be told around a campfire to a story told at bedtime.

Slowly, regretfully, the true tale of two brave souls who had given their lives to seal a vampire had become a myth; something that, to some who didn't believe, simply wasn't true, mostly because of how ridiculous it was to them.

Perhaps, though, it would have been better that way.

* * *

"Now, you may be wondering how I know all this…" 

A pair of menacing, spine-chilling, red, glowing eyes sprung from the darkness of the cave where Rizhet had been defeated.

"Let's just say… I'm not gone yet."

A hideous cackle rose from the depths, fading away as the piercing red eyes faded slowly as well.

* * *

Ah, crap, Rizhet's still alive. D: What to do, what to do? 

_Till next time,  
__Kori Tetsugaia_


End file.
